A Very Happy Life Day
by Miarka
Summary: Feeling the Christmas spirit so I wanted to write my favourite force awakens characters celebrating the festivities in their own way.
1. Luke and Leia

"Happy life day brother." Leia said pulling Luke into a hug from behind.

Luke froze, surprised, before turning to embrace his sister. Years of solitude had made him forget all about life day and the journey they'd shared with it. Leia hadn't always enjoyed the festivities of life day when Luke first joined the rebellion, given that her home planet and everyone she'd ever celebrated it with was taken from her. And Luke understood this, his aunt and uncle murdered and his friends on Tatoonie so far away. Then Leia gained a brother and a husband and a son, and life day suddenly had new meaning. And now this year all of that was gone again. It was just the two of them feeling a little bit like they were back where they started.

"Where's your student?" Leia asked, breaking their embrace to peer up at her brother.

"Rey. She's gone away."

"Again?" Leia asked in exasperation.

Luke huffed. "She told me she doesn't enjoy life day. She had no family on Jakku and never celebrated it before."

"Yes but she has friends now at the resistance?" Leia sighed.

Luke smiled. "Yes she does, but some things never change."

Luke often had theories about where Rey went. She did leave much too often, always claiming to find herself, to seek solitude and surround herself with the force. Luke couldn't make up his mind if it was good for her and there was always this itching sensation that there was more to it than she let on. Still he was very cautious not to be too controlling over her, he'd learnt his lesson from that. And he could hardly argue with her when each time she came back she came renewed and she was making so much progress with her training recently. Rey hadn't spared a thought for Jakku in months, there was nothing left back there for her.

"What are you doing today?" Luke asked, turning to look at his sister.

Leia's brow furrowed. "Everyone has the day off. That means non-stop drinking which means the kitchen and rec rooms are going to be chock full and completely crazy for the entirety of the day and-"

"Leia." Luke cut in softly. "I know what happens today. My question is what are you going to do today?"

Leia looked up at him, stunned. "I don't know." The general of the resistance spent her every waking hour pouring over her cause so to be given a whole day when she was to put it all aside was exhausting.

She turned slowly to face her window. The planet that they'd set up base on was always cold. Clear yet cold. The sun always shined brilliantly through an unmarked crystal blue sky and nearly every morning ice and frost crept all over the base which proved a nightmare for the X-Wings. At night the sky was awake with stars. But nothing else, she'd never seen a single cloud touch that sky, never seen the rain pour or lightning strike, never seen a single change in the planets weather until today.

White fluffy cloud had gathered above them outside the window and suddenly the first snowflakes began to fall, gathering in a flurry as they descended.

Leia sat down at her window and watched as the snow fell fast. "I guess we do what everyone else really does today." She said softly turning her face back to Luke as she reached out her hand to him.

"What's that?" He asked, placing his hand into her own.

She pulled him into another embrace and he sat with her at the window. She rested her head against him and for the first time in she didn't know how long she finally felt content again. It wasn't that she didn't feel young again. She'd known too much for that. She'd lost everything, and she'd been angry and she'd been in love and eventually all that was gone from her. Han was gone. Her son was lost, though Leia knew as long as they both lived she'd never give up hope. In the end as it was in the beginning it was always and only her and Luke. They'd always had each other, even when they were worlds apart, even when they didn't know the other existed. Luke and Leia they were each other's comfort, each other's keeper, each other's peace and each other's soul. And if Leia was to have just one day of rest a year this is the way she wanted to spend it, watching the snowfall with her brother at her side.


	2. Poe and Finn

"Happy life day." Poe yelled excitedly, throwing a pillow into Finn's face from the bunk above, causing Finn to jerk awake suddenly.

"What?" Finn choked out, staring wide eyed in surprise and confusion at Poe.

"Life day." Poe repeated smiling happily as he came to sit at edge of Finn's bed. "The best goddamn day of the year."

Finn looked back still confused.

Poe's face fell. "You don't have life day in the first order?"

"No." Finn replied shaking his head.

"Boy, no wonder you couldn't wait to get the hell outta there. Basically life day is a day of celebration where everyone has the excuse the super drunk and sexually harass one another."

Finn raised an eyebrow, feeling even more confused than before, it sounded like the first order wasn't so bad for ignoring this day.

"Okay okay." Poe smirked, leaning back a little. "It sounds stupid but it's actually really fun. It's supposed to be a day for everyone to spend time together with their friends, family and loved ones but the celebration has sort of been lost as a day to party."

Finn let out a small sigh. Great, another social event. Finn didn't want to show Poe he was unhappy, especially as Poe was clearly excited about today, but Finn liked to go to great lengths to avoid social contact.

The resistance was a very friendly place. Everyone was kind and caring and looking out for each other, something that was alien to Finn who only ever known the strict brainwashing of the first order.

And then there was Poe. Poe who had given Finn everything. It started with a jacket by accident. Then Finn was always meeting new people and always feeling embarrassed that he didn't have a full name, even Finn wasn't really his name. Rey never minded, she was a scavenger with no family and nothing behind her, everything there was for her was in the now and the future. And it was there for Finn too, but Finn had something much darker behind him, something he was scared to let others know about. So Finn Dameron became his name. And to this day people who knew Poe weren't exactly sure who Finn was in relation to Poe, where they cousins, was Poe married and had never mentioned it to anyone, was Finn just Poe's number one fanboy? And later when Finn was discharged from the hospital he had nowhere to go, no rooms to go back too. Poe said he could live with him, he had bigger quarters than necessary being the resistance's best pilot. So in end Finn who started off with nothing ended up with everything that was Poe Damerons.

It was this that made Finn feel guilty and ashamed that he had nothing to give back to Poe, especially on day like this made for sharing. It was a very uncommon thing for Finn but right now he really felt bad to be in Poe's company and he wanted to get away.

Finn struggled up out of bed and stretched. "I'm going to take a shower."

Poe nodded and stood too. "Listen, it's okay. I'll get us some breakfast. The base is going to be completely mad today and I don't blame you for not wanting to go out there. I'll go get everything we need and we can spend the whole day here."

Finn blushed, feeling a mix of embarrassment, annoyance and enjoyment at the fact that Poe could read him like and open book. And he felt bad again because Poe had other friends who would want to spend the day with him.

"Thanks Poe." Finn smiled meekly. "But you don't need to do that."

"Nonsense." Poe grinned and clapped Finn on the shoulder. "It's going to be fun."

When Finn hopped out the shower he was met by an alarmingly strong smell of food. Poe had returned and had laid out a banquet of hot cooked breakfast as well as many drinks on the table in front of the couch. BB-8 had powered up and was rolling around excitedly chattering to Poe who was busy climbing every which way around their room hanging little coloured lights and other decorations. Finn when to dump his nightclothes on his bunk only to find more food and drink cascading all over his bed. Poe had stocked up very well, at this rate they wouldn't need to leave their dorm for several days. As Finn took it all in he noticed Poe had taken careful consideration to pick all of Finn's favourite foods. Back in the first order stormtroopers were required to eat the same three square meals every day. When Finn first got out of the hospital he couldn't believe the amount of variety severed in the kitchens.

BB-8 noticed Finn exiting the bathroom and let out a high pitched squeal of a beep.

"Hey Finn." Poe called over his shoulder as he clambered over the couch hanging a plant with white berries above the seat.

"You've been busy." Finn turned, smiling slightly in amusement.

"Yeah." Poe grinned, clearly pleased with himself as he jumped down and slumped on the couch. "Do you like it?"

Finn turned slowly on the spot taking it all in. There dorm room had been transformed from grey messy quarters to a paradise of sparkling colour. "It's crazy but it's beautiful." Finn smiled as he picked his way through the room to the couch, giving Poe a poke in the shoulder to make him budge up. Poe obliged and then began to pour out drinks, his eyes casually looked up to the plant above them and he bit his lip. He did that all the time around Finn but no matter how many times he did it always managed to make Finn blush instantly.

"What is that stuff?" Finn asked, craning his neck back to look at the plant above them.

"That?" Poe said his dark eyes flickering up to the plant and then coming to rest on Finn's face as he put down the drink bottle. "That's mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?" Finn questioned, he'd never heard of it. He looked back to Poe and suddenly his eyes were locked in Poe's gaze.

"You're supposed to kiss someone under it." Poe said, stifling a nervous laugh. "Another tradition that's only gained popularity because you get the excuse to harass that special someone."

"Oh." Said Finn, looking confused and turning his face away. "So have we got some girls coming here?"

Poe paused for a moment and sighed. "I don't like girls." He answered firmly and bravely.

"Oh." Finn repeated, suddenly that made a lot more sense.

"Yeah life day is a fun time." Poe shrugged. "For the past few years I've got to make out with another pilot. But by the next day they've gone back to chasing girls." Poe secretly winced at what he was saying, he'd had this all planed out and now he wasn't being smooth about it. Curse Finn for making him so nervous, curse Finn for being so cute and perfect every second of the day.

Finn's brow muddled as he contemplated his previous days in past years. In the first order life day was the same as any other day. And stormtroopers weren't allowed to have romantic or sexual relationships let alone sexuality. And here Finn didn't really know any women in the resistance, he didn't really know any men either. He knew Rey but Rey was often busy nowadays focusing on her training as a jedi and besides he could never think about Rey that way. He cared about her so much that it was beyond a romantic attraction. She was like his sister. The only other person Finn really knew well in the resistance was Poe and Poe was…Poe was…

Finn looked back at Poe and suddenly realised that Poe had been staring at him the whole time with his dark eyes. "Oh." Finn let out a third time and a grin instantly spread across his face.

Poe bit his lip again and grinned back. In the next second Poe was leaning across the couch and kissing Finn. And Finn was more than happy to kiss Poe back.

"Yeah I think this life day could be a winner." Poe grinned, cupping Finn's face as they broke the kiss.

"So this is what we're going to do today?" Finn asked, glancing around the room and then turning his gaze back to Poe's beaming face. "Have our own private celebration."

"I might have some ideas." Poe laughed. "It means you'll need to take another shower later."

Finn blushed before kissing Poe again.


	3. Rey and Kylo

The planet she found herself on was covered in pinewood forest. Everywhere she moved the air was thick with a heavy mist. She saw him, standing on the other side of a chasm with a raging river below them. The heat of the naturally warm water rising between them and mixing with the fog. He was dressed in black robles, dark features and pale skin striking against the mist and deep green of the trees. Rey was dressed in creamy white, the robes of a jedi.

She began to walk. He followed her. She walked on her side of the canyon until the sheer drop declined and the river slowed.

"You came." He gasped, when she stood before him on his side of the water.

"I'll always come." She replied and took a cautious step towards him. All this time, all this waiting, the traveling, the walking and now that he was near her feet began to fail her.

He pulled her close and she kissed him. And again and again she could never stop kissing him but she wanted to stop and see his face. She pulled back and looked up at him, a man who still held a boy in his eyes no matter how much he tried to deny it. Skin scarred and marked with the many times that she'd hurt him but eyes and lips that she'd loved a thousand times more. For now it was enough to feel the slip of his leather clad hand into hers. They had time. They really didn't but they had so much more time than usual. A day together seemed like a year to them.

So they clasped hands and pulled each other through the forest. No sense of direction mattered in the chaos of love. Through a maze of pines, feeling the thick earthy smell of the misty air, the spongy moss and dirt ground under foot. They ran, they jumped, they walked and sometimes almost danced through their surroundings. Until they came upon more water, fast flowing and distributed by many rocky boulders. More large rocks formed the bank and here they sat and Rey pulled from her bag the drink and food she'd packed, simple bread and meat, and she shared the meal with Kylo.

They ate in silence. They did everything in silence. To speak more than a few words was dangerous. The two of them were from the same cloth that had been shredded apart. Kylo had Snoke and the first order and the dark. Rey had Master Luke and the resistance and the light. There was dark in her too, Kylo sensed it. He knew he could turn her to the dark side but he didn't want to, she was the light, pure, white and blinding and he loved her for it. Rey knew there was still good in Kylo, she knew she could bring him back, but the dark side of her was selfish and wanted to keep him for her own. They both loved each other too much to change anything. So they held an understanding of silence and talking didn't matter anyway when they were already bound so closely together through the force.

Most times that they met they fought. Most times that they met they were on opposite sides of a galactic war. The resistance were attacking the first order. The first order were attacking the resistance. And they clashed lightsabers and they would fight until it was just the two of them battling alone together, until one defeated the other and then they would find themselves in the arms of the other, touching and kissing each other. More than once they'd almost been caught by a different side. And then it would be over. The first order were retreating. The resistance were retreating. It would never matter who had won. What mattered was they would have to part. What mattered was their own private battle was always evenly matched, they both had very good teachers.

Occasionally they would call to one another through the force. And they would find each other on a desolate planet. Each having made the excuse to their masters that they were going on a pilgrimage to find themselves within the force. What Rey always found was Kylo and what Kylo always found was Rey.

After eating they were lying on the rock by the water. The sun cracked scattered rays of light through the trees and mist. Rey opened her eyes and turned her face towards Kylo. She heard the roar of water below. She smelt the pine of the trees and the earthiness of the ground. She saw shards of sunlight dancing across Kylo's pale marked face. Master Luke often told her it was important to focus on the present. He said Rey was a person who often looked behind her. He admitted he was one who often looked forward. But true balance lay in finding the importance of now. Rey had never understood what Master Luke meant until this moment. She knew she'd never been this happy before. She felt, though she couldn't be certain, that she'd never be this happy again.

"I am happy now." She said allowed, quietly and contently.

Kylo stared at her. Rey could read every fleeting emotion that passed over his face before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

They walked further till finally they came across more water. This time wide and slow and bright blue and so clear that they could see every induvial pebble on the bottom.

Rey smiled and pulled off her clothes, jumping into the water, Kylo followed her.

They swam together, letting the slow current carry them backwards and forwards. They laughed as he chased her and she kissed him every time he swam close enough to pull her body to his. Then she would swim away again giggling as she did and making him smile. Till eventually she tired a little and pressed her body against his, guiding him back to the bank where he pulled her body over his and they made love, they're ankles still lapping in the mild water.

"Happy life day Kylo." She whispered.

The sun was tipping the tops of the pine trees, soon it would be gone and they would have to leave with it.

He didn't stir, because he didn't want to disturb where he lay with his head pillowed on her belly, listing to her breathing as she sifted her fingers through his hair, but that sounded wrong to him. The first order didn't celebrate life day. Kylo didn't celebrate life day. Ben Solo did. Ben Solo loved life day. He remembered the decorations and the faces of his parents when he was very young. Later when he was training it was the day his parents would visit him and Master Luke or they would go back home to them. Life day had been a wonderful time for Ben. But Ben was dead Kylo tried to remind himself.

"Ben." He whispered allowed.

Although he didn't see it Rey blinked and her face turned to shock though she knew full well what he said. He felt the shift change in her mind though as her thoughts wandered.

"Happy life day Ben." She said finally, slowly and softly.

"Happy life day Rey." He replied, smiling.


End file.
